Panini America will distribute a special Mario Lemieux hockey card as part of its Passport Program for the upcoming Fall 2013 Sportcard & Memorabilia Expo. To receive the cards, collectors must visit participating collector stores in Canada in advance of the Fall Expo.

Collectors who purchase two packs of 2013-14 Prizm hockey cards will receive the required Passport coupon. Then at the Fall 2013 Expo, collectors can redeem the coupon for the Lemieux Panini hockey card.

ABOUT THE SPORTCARD & MEMORABILIA EXPO
Next year’s Fall 2013 Sportcard & Memorabilia Expo runs Nov. 8-10 at the Toronto International Centre in Mississauga, ON (just a few kilometres away from the Toronto Pearson International Airport). The show is billed as North America’s largest hockey collector’s show. For more information on the show, please visit sportcardexpo.com.

Hockey Hall of Fame honoured member Scotty Bowman will sign autographs this Monday Oct. 7, 2013 at the Frozen Pond hockey memorabilia store in Concord, ON. The in-store appearance will run for one hour from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.

The cost for Bowman autographs are $29 for flat items and $39 for bulky items. For more information, collectors are encouraged to contact the store at 905.760.8404.

Coach Bowman became an honoured member of the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1991. He later was inducted on Canada’s Walk of Fame (2003), inducted in Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (2004), and became an Officer of the Order of Canada (2011). As coach or a member of team staff, he has won the Stanley Cup with the Montréal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Blackhawks.

In 2009 as part of the Canadiens’ Centennial celebrations, Bowman was voted the Best Coach in franchise history.

Collectors will also have the opportunity to mail in their personal items to get signed in case they can’t make it to the Frozen Pond store on either day.

Since 1993, Frozen Pond has established itself as the number one source for quality autograph hockey collectibles. Next month, Hockey Hall of Fame honoured member Bryan Trottier will be in store to sign autographs on Nov. 7, 2013.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced their promotional schedule for the 2013-14 season, highlighted by Dan Bylsma Team USA Bobble Night on Jan. 20, 2014.

Fans attending the mid-season game against the Panthers will receive a bobblehead of Penguins and Team USA coach Bylsma. The CONSOL Energy giveaway is sponsored by Trib Total Media.

The promotional schedule begins with the Schedule Mousepad giveaway on Oct. 3 (home opener) and concludes with the popular Fan Appreciation Night on Apr. 13 (home finale). The Fan Appreciation Night will feature the “Shirts Off Our Backs” promotion with Penguins players.

Hockey superstars Mario Lemieux and Guy Lafleur are returning to the Sportcard & Memorabilia Expo. The pair are the first two guests confirmed for the Stars of the Game autograph centre at the Fall 2013 show that runs Nov. 8-9-10.

Lemieux was previously a guest at the Fall 2009 Sportcard & Memorabilia Expo. This will be his second visit in November 2013. The Hockey Hall of Fame honoured member was a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is considered one of the Big 5 legends of the game – one of the game’s greatest players along with Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky.

Lafleur has also been a guest at previous editions of the Sportcard & Memorabilia Expo, having made his debut in November 1995 and having most recently attended the Spring 2006 edition. This will mark Lafleur’s fifth visit in November 2013. The Hockey Hall of Fame honoured member was an eight-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montréal Canadiens.

ABOUT THE SPORTCARD & MEMORABILIA EXPO
Next year’s Fall 2013 Sportcard & Memorabilia Expo runs Nov. 8-10 at the Toronto International Centre in Mississauga, ON (just a few kilometres away from the Toronto Pearson International Airport). The show is billed as North America’s largest hockey collector’s show. For more information on the show, please visit sportcardexpo.com.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have launched an online auction to benefit California University, the “official educational partner” of the franchise. The auction runs Apr. 15-29, 2013.

Creating character is the mission of California University. To support the university, the Penguins have created scholarships, internships and other resume-building activities for Cal U students.

MORE FROM THE PENGUINS
Proceeds from this online auction will support the Pittsburgh Penguins Scholarship, which is awarded annually to a California University student who demonstrates financial need and maintains a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher. The scholarship was established in 2009. Last year’s auction generated more than $9,800 for the scholarship fund.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS • 40 TEAMS IN 40 WEEKS • WEEK 30 •Every Tuesday throughout the 2012-13 hockey season, we’ll look at significant auction action from another professional hockey team (active or defunct). We will highlight (if available) the top-5 auction results as well as a few results of modern jerseys for those teams that are still active (especially those sourced by one of our favourite The Want List hockey magazine sponsors, the MeiGray Group).
Be sure to pick up your copy of the Vintage Collector’s Almanac & Price Guide at your favourite hockey collector store. You can also purchase your copy online via theWantList.ca.

HEROES OF YEAR ONE

The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs in each of their first two seasons. Stars from the second season included #12 Ken Schinkel (points leader), #9 Charlie Burns, and #21 Keith McCreary (goals leader). Goalies were #30 Les Binkley and #1 Joe Daley.

HALL OF JERSEYS

Ten former members of the Pittsburgh Penguins are today honoured members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. The most notable honoured member is #66 Mario Lemieux, whose jersey was retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1997. Other honoured members are Andy Bathgate, Leo Boivin, Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Tim Horton, Joe Mullen, Larry Murphy, Luc Robitaille and Bryan Trottier. Along with Lemieux’s retired #66, #21 Michel Brière has also been retired by the club.

GAME EDITION 2012-13

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ two biggest superstars are #87 Sidney Crosby and #71 Evgeni Malkin. Crosby is the captain and Malkin is one of the alternate captains; the other alternate captain is #44 Brooks Orpik. At the onset of the 2012-13 season, the team’s goalies were #29 Marc-André Fleury and #92 Tomas Vokoun. (To see the Penguins’ entire roster, please visit penguins.com.)

The Pittsburgh Penguins launched a “Support Our Heroes” Military Appreciation auction that runs through Mar. 14 at nhl.auctions.com. The auction features pre-game warm-up jerseys worn on Feb. 24, 2013 (before the Penguins-Lightning game).

Each camouflage-design jersey is also signed by the player. Proceeds benefit “our real heroes, veterans who proudly serve, through Austin’s Military Playroom Project, the Mighty Penguins Veterans Sled Hockey Program and Operation Troop Appreciation.”

For more information on the auction, hockey fans can contact the Mario Lemieux Foundation via dparish@mlf66.org.

ABOUT THE MARIO LEMIEUX FOUNDATION
The Mario Lemieux Foundation was created in 1993 by hockey legend Mario Lemieux. In that year, Mario was enjoying the greatest season of his brilliant career and on pace to establish a new NHL scoring record. Then he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. After a successful battle with Hodgkin’s, Mario is now 19 years cancer free and his experience led him to focus on ways to assist those not so fortunate. He devotes much of his time to the Foundation raising funds to help reach the ultimate goal: a cure for cancer.

Hockey fans in attendance at this Wednesday’s Penguins-Senators hockey game in Pittsburgh will receive a free Evgeni Malkin bobblehead. The collectible toy features the reigning league MVP holding his 2012 trophy hardware: the Ted Lindsay Award (outstanding player), the Hart Trophy (most valuable player), and Art Ross Trophy (leading scorer).

The collectible bobble is sponsored by Trib Total Media. The Wednesday, Feb. 13 giveaway is part of the Penguins 2013 promotional schedule.

Last season, Malkin won his first Lindsay Award, his first Hart Trophy, and second Art Ross Trophy. He is the fourth Pittsburgh player to win the trio in the same season, following in the footsteps of Mario Lemieux (1987-88, 1992-93 and 1995-96), Jaromir Jagr (1998-99) and Sidney Crosby (2006-07).

As for the actual trophies Malkin won last summer, the trio were on display earlier this season at the Penguins home opener on Jan. 23. The trophies are otherwise on display year-round at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced their promotional schedule for the 2012-13 season. The schedule features 17 promotional dates, including the popular “Fan Appreciation Night and Shirts Off Our Backs at the final regular season home game (on) April 27.”

Another highlight is the Eveni Malkin Bobblehead giveaway on Feb. 13. The bobble, sponsored by Trib Total Media, features Malkin in suit with a trio of awards (Ted Lindsay Award, Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy).

Other notable giveaways are the team calendar (Jan. 29), the baseball cap (Feb. 10), the fleece blanket (Mar. 4), and the Penguins sock monkey (Mar. 10).